Footwear washing apparatus



A. Y. scHULTz ETAL 2,671,456

FOOTWEAR WASHING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 9, 1954 Filed Sept. 20, 1951 March 9, 1954 A- Y, SCHUL-rz ET AL 2,671,456

FOOTWEAR WASHING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 20, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheeil 2 FIG. 2

March 9, 1954 A. Y. scHuLTz ETAL FOOTWEAR WASHING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 20, 1951 Patented Mar. 9, 1954 FOOTWEAR WASHING APPARATUS Abraham Y. Schultz, Harry Schultz, Solomon Schultz', and Marvin Saks, University City, Mo'.

Application September 20, 195.1Serial No..2d7,452.

E?,4 Claims. 1.

This invention' relates to washing apparatus and methods, and more particularly to apparatus for and methods of. washingy articles in a continuous process.

The invention is herein described as it relates to an apparatus for and a method: of washing footwear, i. e., boots or shoes, with a mold-proofing or fungi-proon'g liquid, but it will be understood: that the principles of the' invention may be applicable to apparatus for' and methods oi Washing otherv articles in other liquids' for other purposes, as, for examplek in the laundering of clothing andiv the dry cleaning of garments, or in impregnating operations.

The invention, as it pertains to the washing` of footwear, is particularly' concerned with the treatment of military combat'boots orv shoes with a liquid mold-proofing or fungi-proofing composition, such as para-nitrophenol, or the like.

Among'theseveral objects'ofthe invention may be noted the provisionof' an apparatus for and method: of Washing articles' in a continuous process at low cost, with flexibility of control' of the treatment; the provision of an apparatus and a method particularly for washing hollow articles open at one end', and moreparticularly forA Washingy footwear such as boots or shoes; the provision of an apparatus and a method of the class described which provides for' drainingv andY at least partially drying articles upon emergence f from the wash liquid; andE the provisiony of' an apparatus of' the class described which is' of economical construction and reliable in operation and' a method of. theY class described which. re'- qui-res` a minimum of manual: operations and no special skill. Other features will be in part' apparent and' in part' pointed out` hereinafter.

The invention' accordingly comprises the elements and. combinations of elements', steps; and

secniencev of steps; features of; construction. an;i ,5

Fig, e. is. an. enlargedvertieal. transverse section taken on line 4--4' of Fig. 1;

Fig, 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken at one end of the apparatus on line 5 5 of Fig.' 2'; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section taken at' the other end, of the apparatus.

Similar reference characters indicate correspending' parts throughout' the several views of the drawings..

Referring to the' drawings, which illustrate the invention as applied to apparatus for washing footwear, i. e., boots or shoes, in a mold-proofing or fungi-proofing. liquid, such' as an'. emulsion' of para-nitrophenoL. the. apparatus. is. shown to comprise an elongate sheet metal tank l having. a bottom 3, vertical sides 5 and Vertical ends 'l and e. In practise, the tankisof' the ord-eroi eighty feet long, three feet wide and three feet high, for example. It. is positioned' within an outer shell Il with studs i3 between the'si'des 5 of the tank and the shell. The tank' and shell are mounted on transverse beams' l5' which rest on longitudinal rails Il. Gusset plates I9v stii'en the sides of the shell'. The studs i3 support longitudinal beamsll. The sides 5 of the' tank have langesZS at their upper' edges overlying' these beams. The sides of the shell are. higher' than the sides of the. tank.. Transverse beams 25 span the sides of the shell, resting on the iianges` 23 of the. tank. The shell is stiffened at its upper edge by angle. iron stiffeners 2'? and braced by angle' iron cross-braces 28.

An endless' chain conveyor' generally designated 2s. extends the length of the tank from near its endfito near its other end a. This conveyor oomprises a pair of endless chains. Si arranged side- 'l of the tank and around' upper and: lower sheaves 37 and 3B.. near the'. end. 9 of the tank so that the. conveyor has a, lower horizontal reach'. 4l.

travelaole from near the end l to near the end 9 Within the tank, and an upper horizontal reach d3' directly above the lower' reach travelab'le in the opposite direction. above the tank.

The, upper sheaves 33' near they end 1 of the tank are fixed on an upper transverse'. shaft d5 jvournalied in bearings i? mounted' on the sides of the shellr H.. These bearings are adjustable longitudinally for tensioning the chains. At 49. is shown a platform mounted on posts 5i. which extend. upwarifrom the sidesv of the shell'. On the. platform is a motor 53. coupled to drive the input shaftJ of a speed. changer 'through` a' belt and pulley drive 5t. the output shaft'of'the'speed changer being coupled to drive the shaft 45 through a chain and sprocket drive 51. The lower sheaves 35 are mounted on short transverse idler shafts 59 carried by brackets 6| in the tank The upper sheaves 31 near the end 9 of the tank are mounted on short transverse idler shafts 63 carried by brackets 64, and the lower sheaves 39 are mounted on short idler shafts 65 carried by brackets 61 in the tank Shafts 45 and 63 are in the same horizontal plane above the tank, and shafts 59 and 65 are in the same horizontal plane below the top of the tank. The conveyor is driven counterclockwise as viewed in Figs. 1, and 6, i. e., its lower reach travels from end 1 to end 9 of the tank, and its upper reach travels back in the opposite direction above the tank.

The upper reaches of the chains 3| are guided in upwardly opening horizontal channels 69 extending longitudinally above the tank from near the upper sheaves 33 to near the upper sheaves 31. These channels are mounted on the upper ends of vertical supports 1| which are fixed to the cross-braces 28. The sides of each channel have inwardly directed flanges 13 so that the opening of the channel is a slot-like opening narrower than the channel, being slightly wider than the thickness of ythe links of the chain. The lower reaches of the chains are guided in downwardly opening horizontal channels 15 extending longitudinally within the tank from near the lower sheaves 35 to near the lower sheaves 39. The channels 15 are xed to the lower ends of the supports 1|. The sides of each channel 15 have inwardly directed iianges 13 like the channels 69. Every other link of each chain is guided vertically in the slot-like opening of its respective channel, the remaining links riding horizontally within the respective channel.

'I'he conveyor 29 is equipped with e, series of supports on both sides thereof for holding footwear to be carried through a dip in the tank in such a way that the entire surface of any article of footwear is out of Contact with any other article or parts of the apparatus for complete exposure for treatment and elimination of abrasion. More particularly, each support comprises a lateral bar 11 secured to two laterally aligned ver tical links of the two chains 3| and projecting on opposite sides of the conveyor. The projecting portions of each bar form legs which are bent as indicated at 19 so that those legs on the upper reach of the conveyor incline upward and those on the lower reach incline downward. On the outer ends of each bar are rods 8| having rings 83 at their ends, these rods forming feet at the ends of the legs for receiving a boot or shoe. Each rod or foot 8| is so inclined relative vto the vertical plane of the conveyor that those feet on the upper reach of the conveyor incline upward toward this plane, and those feet on the lower reach incline downward toward this plane. Within the tank, the feet 8| travel closely adjacent the sides of the tank, so that the sides serve to prevent footwear from falling oi into the tank.

'I'he tank has a cover 85, supported on beams 25, which extends from near the end 1 to near the end 9, leaving space at the ends where the conveyor enters and emerges from the tank. A drying hood 81 is provided on the tank enclosing a part of the upper reach of the conveyor extending from near the end 9 of the tank (where the conveyor emerges from the tank) to a point well short of the end 1 of the tank. This leaves a considerable accessible portion of .the

Cil

upper reach of the conveyor between the posts 5| and the exit end of the drying hood so that workers standing at unloading stations on opposite sides of the tank may place shoes on and remove shoes from the supports on this portion of the conveyor. 'I'he hood is of arched form, with a tapering chamber 89 at its exit end, and forms with the cover a drying tunnel. A fan 9| in an opening in 'the exit end wall 93 of the chamber 89 blows air over steam coils 95 in the chamber and causes a iiow of heated air through the tunnel in the direction counter to that of travel of the upper reach of the conveyor. The cover 85 keeps the air from evaporating liquid in vthe tank.

At 91 is shown a pipe for filling the tank with the treating liquid. Steam pipes 99 extend the length of the tank for heating the liquid. At the end 9 of the tank, a motor-driven pump |0| is mounted on a support |03. An inlet pipe |05 extends from within a lter-screened space |01 in the tank to the inlet of the pump. The outlet of the pump is connected by a pipe |99 to pipes which extend the full length of the bottom of the tank and a pipe ||2 which extends the length of the tank just under the center of the bars 11 in the lower reach of the conveyor. Pipes have outlets 3 at spaced intervals. Pipe |I2 has laterally directed outlets 4 at spaced intervals. Part of the ow from pipe |09 is delivered through a pipe ||5 to a lter ||1, ltered liquid being delivered from the filter to the tank by a pipe 9. At |2| is shown an emergency overflow outlet connected by a, pipe |23 to a drain.

In operation, the tank is filled with the treating liquid. The pump is driven continuously to withdraw liquid from the tank and return it to the tank via pipes and ||2 and filter ||1. The liquid returned to the tank through pipes is discharged through outlets ||3 continuously to agitate the liquid in the tank. The liquid returned to the tank through pipe ||2 is discharged through outlets |4 to agitate the liquid in footwear travelling through the tank. The conveyor 29 is continuously driven at a relatively slow rate of speed. The fan 9| is operated to blow heated air through the drying tunnel.

Workers stationed on opposite sides of the tank adjacent its end 1 apply footwear (combat boots as shown in Figs. 2 and 3) to the feet 8| and legs 19 on the upper reach of the conveyor as it approaches the upper sheaves 33. The boots are positioned heel down on the feet, and their open tops are down. As the boots travel around and down into the tank at the end 1 of the tank, they are inverted to open-top-up position so that they readily ll with the liquid in the tank. Then they travel immersed in the liquid throughout the length of the lower reach of the conveyor, and become impregnated with the liquid. The agitation of the liquid insures thorough washing action on both the outside and the inside of the boots. As the boots travel around and up out of the tank at the end 9 of the tank, they are returned to their heel and top down position. and all excess liquid therein drains out and back into the tank. The impregnated boots then travel through the drying tunnel wherein they are at least partially dried by the flow of hot air. As the boots emerge from the drying tunnel, they are removed by workers stationed on opposite sides of the tank rearward of the loading station as regards the direction of travel of, the upper reach of the conveyor. This clears the boot supports for application of more boots thereto by the workers at the loading station.

The length of time that the boots are immersed in the treating liquid may .be varied by varying the speed of the conveyor. It will be understood, however, that the conveyor will not be driven so fast as to make it impractical for workers to apply and remove the boots.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for washing footwear compris- *A ing an elongate tank having a bottom, vertical sides and ends, an endless chain conveyor extending the length of the tank and having a horizontal lower reach travelable in one direction within the tank from near one end of the tank to near its other end and an upper reach travelable in the opposite direction above the tank, said conveyor comprising a pair of endless chains arranged in parallel vertical planes and having a series of lateral bars projecting on opposite sides of the conveyor and having feet at their outer ends for holding footwear, each bar being secured to the outer side of two laterally aligned links of the respective chains, the feet on the lower reach of L.'

the conveyor being travelable closely adjacent the vertical sides of the tank so that footwear is prevented from falling off into the tank, the tank having a cover extending from near one end to the other, a drying hood on the tank enclosing the upper reach of the conveyor and extending from near said other end of the tank to a point short of said one end of the tank, the hood and part of the cover forming a drying tunnel, and means for causing a ilow of heated air through the tunnel in the direction counter to that of travel of the upper reach of the conveyor.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bars and feet are formed to hold footwear open end up as it travels through the tank and open end down as it travels above the tank.

ABRAHAM Y. SCHULTZ. HARRY SCHULTZ. SOLOMON SCHULTZ. MARVIN SAKS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 9 Number Name Date 841,361 Wall Jan. 15, 1907 931,503 Scott Aug. 17, 1909 1,116,649 Vaughan NOV. 10, 1914 1,461,760 Morinsky July 17, 1923 1,531,839 Booraem Mar. 31, 1925 1,550,679 Dean et al Aug. 25, 1925 1,978,050 Johnson Oct. 23, 1934 2,011,328 Tuttle Aug. 13, 1935 2,094,630 Winninghoi Oct. 5, 1937 2,356,950 Root Aug. 29, 1944 2,368,130 Fox Jan. 30, 1945 2,387,394 Hedges et al Oct. 23, 1945 2,429,130 Hockman et al Oct. 14, 1947 2,552,612 Adams et al. May 15, 1951 2,610,926 Chase et al Sept. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 384,221 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1932 

